ISU lands Knight, WIU two Farmers

Different needs meant different priorities for the Illinois State and Western Illinois football programs. But both shared one common feature in their 2014 recruiting classes on Wednesday.

The chance to stay local.

The Redbirds signed Richwoods linebacker Daejgeon Love to a national letter of intent while the Leathernecks announced that a pair of Farmington teammates — tight end/defensive end Macae Skaggs and Brenden Jostes — would join the program in the fall as preferred walk-ons.

Love was one of four linebackers of a 24-player class that is skewed toward the skill positions and targeting positions of need.

“He’s a kid who has been in our camp the last few years, so we’ve been able to keep an eye on him,” ISU coach Brock Spack said. “He can really, really run. He’s very athletic and tough. He comes from a great program, so he was a no-brainer for us.”

Love will be reunited with former Richwoods lineman Tyler Brown, who began classes in the second semester and is eligible for spring practice.

“We felt a year sitting out (for a semester), being a greyshirt, would really help his development and it has. He has really gotten a lot bigger and stronger,” Spack said. “Now he’s basically getting six years to develop. You get started on his clock a little later and he’s a tremendous student, a tough kid and he’s really improved through his high school career.”

Based on early committments, ISU’s class was considered by recruiting experts to be one of the better ones in FCS, but until Wednesday there were no guarantees.

“Our staff did a great job, particularly at the end, holding onto these talented recruits,” Spack said. “Over the years I’ve been here, we’ve learned what an FCS player looks like and we beat some FBS programs on several of these guys.”

Western, still in rebuilding mode under now second-year coach Bob Nielson, tried to address immediate and future needs with a 32-player recruiting class which includes five transfers.

“I think this will solidify our future as a program and help us take next step to winning a Missouri Valley Football Conference championship,” Nielson said. “The program is at a point where it can win recruiting battles it couldn’t a couple of years ago.”

Skaggs and Jostes will continue to be teammates at Western. As preferred walk-ons they will not receive athletic scholarships but are eligible to begin practice when fall camp opens.

“We’ve been playing together since sixth grade,” Skaggs said, “so just to go to the next level and be playing with him still is pretty cool.”

Both players are multi-sport athletes — Skaggs plays basketball and baseball while Jostes is a two-time state wrestling qualifier.

“One thing is multiple-sport athletes — when they go to the college level and focus on one sport — tend to have a bigger upside,” Nielson said. “There’s something about multiple sport athletes that translate to them improving very very rapidly as college football players.”

Kevin Capie can be reached at 686-3214 or kcapie@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter at KevinCapie. Stan Morris contributed to this report.